Jewellery | Mint condition

Bulgari’s Monete collection of heritage-inspired jewellery features coins from as far back as the 5th century BC.
AFR

by
Samantha Hutchinson

There’s a unique history and resonance in the patina of old coins. Ancient Romans pioneered the tradition of gemme nummarie, or coin gems, mainly because coins from the empire were made of 18- and 24-carat gold and were in ample supply. Yet more than two millennia on, the tradition remains a distinctive element in the collections of the world’s most exclusive jewellers and watchmakers.

Some wearers say pennies are a good luck charm. Others say they can’t resist wearing something that is older than the age of their grandparents put together.

But the ultra-fashionable will tell you there are few traditions in heritage jewellery design that can deliver the understated glamour and sophistication of ancient coins.

Jewellery historian and Bulgari specialist Amanda Triossi says famous 19th century Roman goldsmith Fortunato Pio Castellani is most responsible for the coin gem designs that are in demand today.

“Castellani designs were about more than taking pretty elements from Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Etruscan cultures," Triossi says. Embedding the coins in the new designs brought fragments of the past into a modern context.

She says the coins Castellani used were genuine, bearing all the signs of wear from their use as currency. They were often irregularly sized, and Castellani jewellers mounted them in a way that emphasised their different shapes and imperfections.

The burnished colour of the coins, some of which had spent years underground, was prized by collectors. Castellani sought to highlight the patina of ancient silver coins with a contrasting setting of matt gold. The style has come to be known as neo-archaeological. Modern wearers are more inclined to call it “need it now", due to the creativity and craftsmanship of Bulgari and luxury watchmakers.

“Coins are such a physical connection to the past," Sotheby’s Australia head of jewels, Hamish Sharma, says. “It’s more than nostalgia, it’s a connection to civilisation. When you hold a coin from the time of Alexander the Great, something from 300BC, it’s a huge high."

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Bulgari’s Monete collection, first released in the late 1950s, has been widely credited with bringing coin gems back into high fashion. It includes bronze, silver and gold coins from ancient Rome, Greece, North Africa and America, from the 5th century BC up to modern times.

Greek origins

“Since the very first launch, the Monete creations wanted to be an explicit declaration of Bulgari’s Greek origins," Bulgari designer Mauro Di Roberto says.

The collection is among the jewellery house’s most popular today, not least because of a luxuriously styled campaign with British actress
Rachel Weisz
.

The story behind the pieces also plays a role, Di Roberto says. “People love to discover the inspiration behind a piece," he says. “If this is linked to artistic or cultural heritage it is more exciting to wear."

Watchmaker Vacheron Constantin has created timepieces featuring $US10 and $US20 gold coins from as early as the 1850s. Corum has been producing coin watches featuring $US20 double eagle or $US10 liberty coins for more than 50 years.

Sharma says the history carried by a coin gem has strong pulling power but wearers are increasingly drawn to heritage collections first and foremost for their striking looks.

“They are looking for good craftsmanship and superior aesthetics," he says. “But uniqueness and individuality also come into it. There is serious bidding for these jewels."